Frank Elstner

Frank Elstner (80) is a television producer, presenter and creator of the ZDF programme “Wetten, dass…”. As a journalist, he joined Radio Luxemburg/RTL at the age of 21, quickly became a popular radio presenter and later head of RTL’s German programme. On television, he became known in the 1970s for the programmes “Spiel ohne Grenzen” and “Montagsmaler”. From 1981 to 1987 Elstner hosted “Wetten dass…”, the most successful and popular programme on German television.

From the mid-1980s he interviewed more than 130 Nobel Prize winners in the interview series “Die Stillen Stars”. Today, Elstner makes documentaries about endangered species, among other things. In 2019, he spoke publicly about his Parkinson’s disease. He supports the Parkinson’s Foundation and, together with the president and doctor Jens Volkmann, wrote the book “Dann zitter ich halt – Leben trotz Parkinson” (Then I’ll tremble – Life despite Parkinson’s disease), which was published in autumn 2021 and became a bestseller. Elstner has received numerous awards and honours. He lives in Baden-Baden and is the father of five children.